Be Part of Something Unique!
The Digital Tech Academy is our new program open only to outstanding digital talents from all FAU degree programs and faculties! We impart all you need to follow your heart and passion for digitization, entrepreneurship and innovation. Work in interdisciplinary teams, get in touch with expert coaches and mentors, and develop your own pristine and validated business model.
FAU – Digital Tech Fellows Program Inspiration
What are the benefits of the Student Program?
Within one year, you will learn the newest state-of-the-art innovation methods and work in interdisciplinary teams on your entrepreneurial challenge. Choose either your own start-up idea or one of the highly enticing projects from your participants colleagues.
You´ll work with 24 other handpicked talents from FAU as well as our international expert coaches and mentors – a unique chance to widen your professional network globally. That´s also why we´ll have a sports track with yoga and strength training provided by professional athletes – there is no place you can´t learn something for your start-up!
All these skills and networks we provide will distinguish you significantly from other founders and entrepreneurs in your later work-life. And at the end of that one year, you´ll have developed your own pristine and validated business model empowering you to enter your chosen market.
Upon successfull completion of the program, each participant will also receive an official certificate by FAU at the end of the program. Besides, some participants will get a highly exclusive grant to visit one of the top universities worldwide to work on the international perspective of his or her project.
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“I applied for the FAU Digital Tech Fellows Program to practically learn and experience how to build a start-up, not in theory.”
Martin Kaller – Team Roadius -
“From our kickoff weekend, to the first prototype, and the final pitch — the DTF program was an awesome journey. The only way to learn more about how to start up, is to start up.”
Stefan Seegerer – Team Talos -
“I was amazed by how many things we tried and learned by just getting started and validating over and over again but also failing at some point but then getting back up really improves your process and your personal learnings”
Lucia Grom-Baumgarten – Team Augmented World Experience -
“The FAU Digital Tech Academy is at the core of FAU‘s strategy. It connects students, entrepreneurs and innovators across all our faculties and contributes to FAU as the No. 1 Innovator in Germany.”
Prof. Dr. Katrin Möslein – Vice President Outreach Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg -
“In the FAU Digital Tech Fellows Program you get to know a lot of like-minded people and spend a whole year working alongside them on start-up projects. Essentially, the FAU Digital Tech Fellows Program brought me together with my co-founder Stefan and gave us a roadmap for structuring our start-up journey!”
Anatoli Kalysch – Team Talos
What are the projects and objectives?
As mentioned, you can work either on your own start-up idea, or on a project from our company partners – like the digitization of senses, or new smart materials.
After the 12 month program you will have:
+ an iterated Prototype
+ a validated Business Model
+ a validated Market Potential
+ a validated Financial Plan
What happens during this one year?
You will successfully complete many workshops which are organized as Block-Seminars on Fridays / Saturdays to make it easier for you to participate along your regular curriculum.
You get guided through the end-to-end Business design process by learning each step of it by the following program:
+ Kick off with project partners, team formation & challenge assignment
+ Program Part I Research
+ Find
+ Trend Analysis -> Recognise trends
+ Discover -> Become an expert
+ Design -> Create your business model
+ Formulate
+ Validate -> Challenge the future scenario
+ Review -> Reflect the executed experiments
+ Decide -> Close first business plan iteration
-> Mid Term Presentation: Show your results to the world
+ Program Part II Develop
+ Foster
+ Discover -> Analyze your chosen market
+ Design -> Develop & iterate different prototypes
+ Validate -> Validate your prototypes through direct market research
+ Finalize
+ Review -> Adapt your prototypes to market feedback
+ Decide -> Decide upon your final product design
-> Final Demo Day: Present your product and pivot or proceed
In addition to the program we provide several digitization enabler too.
+ Workshops, Hackathons, Events: Learn how to bring hardware/product together with software and what value add is created for the customers.
+ Toolbox Conference: We will provide you a fully packed conference day with leading edge technologies which you can use immediately for any digitization project.
-> Get in touch with us in person on the following meetups…
How do I register?
Apply now for Batch 6 starting in May 2020:
Get started with digitization, entrepreneurship and innovation now
As Germany´s most innovative university, FAU offers its students a huge variety of classes regarding the topics digitzation, innovation and Entrepreneurship. You can find an aggregated overview here:
Explore more than 100 lectures of the FAU concerning these hot topics…
Batch 4 Dates & Events 2nd Iteration
| Friday, 18. October / 9:00 – 17:00 | Kick-off 2nd iteration | d.hip, Henkestraße 127, 91052 Erlangen |
| Saturday, 19. October / 18:00 – 01:00 | Die Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften | Erlangen / Nürnberg / Fürth |
| Friday, 25. October / Starts at 17:30 | Digital Tech Fellows Community Meeting + Shenzhen and Silicon Valley experience reports | d.hip, Henkestraße 127, 91052 Erlangen |
| Monday, 28. October / 9:00 – 17:00 | IoT-Workshop | InnoLab, MaD Lab (Lehrstuhl für Maschinelles Lernen und Datenanalytik), Carl-Thiersch-Straße 2b, 91052 Erlangen |
| Friday, 8. November – Sunday 10. November | Design WS | Winter School, Fraunhofer Forschungscampus, Fraunhofer-Platz 1, 91344 Waischenfeld |
| Friday, 22. November / 9:00 – 17:00 | Validate WS | >InnoLab, MaD Lab (Lehrstuhl für Maschinelles Lernen und Datenanalytik), Carl-Thiersch-Straße 2b, 91052 Erlangen |
| Friday, 6. December / 9:00 – 17:00 | Review WS | Zollhof, Kohlenhofstraße 60, 90443 Nürnberg |
| Monday, 13. January 2020 / 13:00 – 17:00 | Presentation Test I | Medical Valley Center, Henkestraße 91, 91052 Erlangen |
| Monday, 20. January 2020 / 13:00 – 17:00 | Presentation Test II tbd | Zollhof / MVC |
| Monday, 24. January 2020 / 9:00 – 17:00 | Decide WS and Final Demo Day | d.hip, Henkestraße 127, 91052 Erlangen |
Batch 5 Dates & Events 1st Iteration
| Saturday, 19. October / 18:00 – 01:00 | Die Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften | Erlangen / Nürnberg / Fürth |
| Friday, 25. October – Sunday, 27. October / Starts at 9:00 | Kick-off and Discover WS | d.hip, Henkestraße 127, 91052 Erlangen |
| Monday, 4. November / 17:00 – 20:00 | Competitor Analysis & Interview Techniques | InnoLab, MaD Lab (Lehrstuhl für Maschinelles Lernen und Datenanalytik), Carl-Thiersch-Straße 2b, 91052 Erlangen |
| Friday, 15. November – Sunday, 17. November | Design WS | Winter School, Fraunhofer Forschungscampus, Fraunhofer-Platz 1, 91344 Waischenfeld |
| Friday, 29. November / 9:00 – 17:00 | Validate I WS | Zollhof, Kohlenhofstraße 60, 90443 Nürnberg |
| Friday, 13. December / 9:00 – 17:00 | Validate II WS (optional) | FAU – Digital Tech Academy, Medical Valley Center, 3. Stock Haus 6, Henkestraße 91, 91052 Erlangen |
| Friday, 10. January 2020 / 9:00 – 11:00 | Rhetorik I | tbd |
| Friday, 17. January 2020 / 9:00 – 17:00 | Review WS | Josephs, Karl-Grillenberger-Straße 3, 90402 Nürnberg |
| Monday, 20. January 2020 / 17:00 – 20:00 | Pitching WS | Zollhof, Kohlenhofstraße 60, 90443 Nürnberg |
| Monday, 27. January 2020 / 13:00 – 17:00 | Presentation Test I | Medical Valley Center, Henkestraße 91, 91052 Erlangen |
| Friday, 31. January 2020 / 9:00 – 17:00 | IoT WS | InnoLab, MaD Lab (Lehrstuhl für Maschinelles Lernen und Datenanalytik), Carl-Thiersch-Straße 2b, 91052 Erlangen |
| Monday, 3. February 2020 / 13:00 – 17:00 | Presentation Test II | Medical Valley Center, Henkestraße 91, 91052 Erlangen |
| Friday, 7. February 2020 / 9:00 – 17:00 | Decide WS and Midterm Presentations | Zollhof, Kohlenhofstraße 60, 90443 Nürnberg |
Batch 5 Dates & Events 2nd Iteration
| Friday, 24. April 2020 / 9:00 – 17:00 | Kick-off 2nd Iteration & Market Opportunity Navigator | tbd |
| Friday, 8. May – Sunday, 10. May 2020 | Design WS & Financial Planning | Summer School / tbd |
| Friday, 29. May 2020 | Validate WS | tbd |
| Wednesday, 3. June 2020 | 2. Franken Finance Festival | d.hip |
| tbd | Rhetorik II | tbd |
| tbd | Sports | tbd |
| Friday, 19. June 2020 | Review WS & Market Entry Planning | tbd |
| Monday, 29. June 2020 | Presentation Test I | tbd |
| Monday, 6. July 2020 | Presentation Test II (optional) | tbd |
| Friday, 10. July 2020 | Decide WS / Final Demo Day | tbd |
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